By law, both parents are obligated to make a financial contribution to the care of their child(ren). The parent with physical custody of the child is going to financially provide, so the non-custodial parent will contribute through child support payments to the custodial parent.
If you are facing divorce and child support is going to be a matter that will have to be decided upon, you wish to seek child support from a parent who has never paid or who has failed to pay, or you need to challenge a child support matter, your Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin child support attorney can help you.
Child support in Minnesota has three components:
Child support in Wisconsin has two basic components:
Once support is established, the payments continue until the child graduates from high school or turns 18, whichever occurs last. The guidelines in Minnesota are rather specific and they are used to calculate the amount of the payments that will be received for the child. The income of both of the parents and the amount of parenting time is considered when determining how much the non-custodial parent is to pay to the custodial parent.
In Wisconsin, the amount of support is determined by the number of children that two parents share responsibility for with a designated percentage of the parents’ gross monthly income being paid towards the number of children. The minimum amount of support that may be paid for a minor child in Wisconsin is seventeen percent (17%) of a parent’s gross monthly income.
Child support that is not paid when it is supposed can become an arrearage and that arrearage cannot be forgiven without appearing before the court. In Minnesota and Wisconsin, there are a number of consequences when someone doesn’t pay all of the child support that they owe. Those consequences include:
What cannot happen when child support is not paid is the parent cannot be denied parenting time or physical placement. Visitation and support are treated as two different things. Halting visitation time because of unpaid child support is not considered to be in the best interest of the child and it is a big no-no.
Child support is a very important element in the care of a child. If you need to establish support, modify child support, or there is another related matter that needs tending to, having an experienced child support attorney by your side throughout the process will help you obtain the best result. To learn more about how the Benjamin Kaasa Law Office, PLLC can help you, call 218-464-3397 for a consultation.
